Every Day
by BeehiveOneThreeZer0
Summary: In a weird twist of events, I was being bounced around by a bunch of girls in mini skirts.... but staring at a boy. Akuroku fluffy. Sequel up.


Every Day. Originally called "Pep Rally"

Akuroku.

I have many, many amusing images in my head for this one. I can see it happening, and it's funny as hell….. to a point.

BLUE: **YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO READ THIS.** I'm **warning** you. See it? THAT IS YOUR WARNING.

Anyone who is NOT having med issues… feel free.

-------

Dear God.

It's me again. Please smite me.

Thank You. Axel.

I waited patiently for a few minutes, and when nothing happened I cursed loudly.

Some random track started playing and the cheerleaders busted through the doors dramatically, I frowned and balanced my elbow on my knee, resting my head against my loosely clenched fist. I sadly knew the name of the track, I blame my roommate Red. She's a major music freak, so sadly I knew the name of the song was Red Light Go by Mea Fisher. God must HATE me today. Not only was I in a pep rally, but my car broke down, I failed my math test, and Red chased me down with a camera because apparently I'm the new school hottie and she's on the yearbook staff.

I sighed as they filed into a loose line and began their routine, why I had taken the fourth row back was beyond me, but then again, I was very close to the door. Maybe I can make a break for it. No. That's a bad idea, I remember what happened last time… ISS for a damn month. I failed Math because of it, and that's why I'm back this year. I should have graduated. I swear the girls in this hell hole are plotting against me and rigged my test.

The cheerleaders in front of me, in their short skirts, and goofy smiles all looked highly enthused, three bracing one and then catapulting her into the air, catching her as she fell with a dramatic twist. I nearly cried with joy when it was over, they all jumped into a large circle, squealing and bouncing like idiots. Normally, a guy would marvel at the short skirts riding up and floating around the little waists and nice asses, but I was too distracted by the fact my brain was about to ooze out of my ears from the noises coming out of these girls tight throats. The one boy was in the center, screaming and yelling like all the girls looking like a total fag. I stood up, told my teacher I was going to the bathroom, and turned to exit promptly.

That was the plan, however something caught my eye. A little cheerleader to the edge of the group, she wasn't yelling and bouncing at like the others, she just had a soft smile on her lips, hands clasped behind her back and loose posture. One of her knew were bent, the tow of her shoe balancing off the ground and her head tilted slightly in my direction watching the boy as he broke free of the girls. He had long silver hair, clipped back at the nape of his neck. She laughed lightly and started talking to her, that's when I realized I was staring at her. She was BEAUTIFUL. The other girls were just kinda slutty looking, but she was absolutely gorgeous. Short spiked blonde hair, cream skin, and bright blue eyes from what I could tell. She had sharper features than the other girls, giving her a slightly masculine edge but she remained perfectly feminine in the black and silver uniform, our school logo plastered on her chest and designs of what looked like creepy vines along the edge of her pleated skirt. I blinked. I have seen heaven. THANK YOU GOD!!!

I decided I was going to go and congratulate her for doing such a good job, despite the fact I hated most of these stupid pep rallies, when all the students filed off the bleachers swamping me and forcing me to go the opposite direction. I went back to my class, dazed and extremely flustered suddenly, blushing beyond my control. What the hell is wrong with me!? Get a grip man.

By three days I was beginning to go nuts. I asked Red who was on the cheer team and described the girl to her, she laughed at me and told me to figure it out. She pissed me off when she did the playboy point, click, and wink at me and dashed off. I was in art class when I realized this had gone way too far. I was a free drawing day, doodle whatever you wanted and I found myself doodling her. Perfect in detail, but entirely anime'. It was exactly the same way I had seen her, down to the folds in her skirt, shaded, and I made sure there wasn't one smudge. My art teacher was the one who broke my trance of doodling with a cooing noise and asking who she was. I blushed uncontrollably, and snapped "No one" way too fast.

She had quirked an eyebrow at me and walked away briskly, and amused smirk tainting her lips. Fuck. I looked down at the image and was shocked with myself. It was the best picture I had ever done. Much better than the Mary Poppins and Jurrasic Park scenes I so prided myself on. This has gone way too far for my own good. I had to meet this chick.

After school that day, before heading to my apartment to be assaulted by my overactive roommate, I yanked a paper off the bulletin board. I followed the directions carefully, heading to the gym and standing in front of a table of girls in uniforms. None of them were my mystery girl.

"We're taken," one of them snapped. "Unless you're here for try outs; get lost."

I held up the paper, "I'm not interested in you."

She looked overjoyed, a smile crossing her features. She was an Asian girl with short cropped brown hair. She had a weird bandanna tied behind her head in a large bow; the cheer captain with a flair for the dramatic. The boy was next to her, tilted back in his chair, his tight fitted black jacket and silver undershirt complementing every muscle of his chest. His legs were crossed, feet on the table and he looked bored. The girl turned to him, "you take this one."

He sighed and hopped OVER the table. Not put his feet down and jumped over it, he just drew back and JUMPED. I tried not to stare as he gracefully maneuvered over to me, shaking feeling back into one of his hands for some reason, eyes low. "alright dude, what's your name?"

"Axel Timberlake."

"Like… Justin Timberlake? Sexyback Timeberlake?"

Red had dubbed that my theme song. "Sadly," I replied.

"Let's see what you got," he clapped once and waited.

"What do I do?" I asked after about a minute.

He sighed, "what _can _you do?"

I had taken aerobic last year, and I stayed in shape over the summer. I could do a lot actually, they made me take a gym class and weights was filled. So they slammed me in aerobic because I hated sports. I wound up loving it, despite being eh only boy in five classes. Hey, I'm not gay. I wound up in the back because I'm so tall and I got to stare at a really cute chick's ass in front of me. Okay? Coincidentally, this was the class I met my roommate in. She _does _have a nice ass, obnoxious people skills.

"What _should _do?" I countered.

"Can you do a back flip?"

"Sure can," I said smugly. A little too smugly.

"Do it," he commanded.

So I did, perfect landing on my feet.

"handspring?"

Did that too.

After about thirty minutes of grueling touch and go aerobics. The girl at the table clapped loudly and screamed that I was in, bouncing over the table and sprinting over to me. She shook my hand enthusiastically. "Welcome to the team, I'm Yuffie and I'm cheer captain. You've already met Riku."

The boy to my right gave me a bored, half wave, raising his hand and letting it fall down heavily.

She pointed to each of the girls and named them. "Larxy, Tifa, Kitty, Amanda, Yunie, Rikku, and that's Kairi."

They all waved to me. "Larxy, Kitty, and Yunie" Corrected their names to Larxene, Deanna, and Yuna.

"You're the third and final boy, here's your uniform." She handed him a uniform. "Go change up and we'll see how you look. We need you ready ASAP."

I blinked and took the clothes from her, dizzily walking over to the boys locker room. Riku went back to the table and discussed with Yuffie and the girl named Kairi. I looked down at the shirt-jacket after I got the pants and on and had taken off my shirt. How the hell did this go ON?

"Do you need help?" A soft voice asked.

I turned to see mystery girl. My breath hitched in my throat for a minute before I tried to act calm and asked how to put it on. She took it from me and slipped the neck hole over my head. "I'm sure you can figure it out from there. She watched, blue eyes glittering as I quickly managed to get in it. I blushed slightly when she adjusted a chain on the jacket, clipping it to one side so it hung loosely over my chest. The jacket was longer than the shirt, and surprisingly comfortable. Solid black on the front with the Nobody High logo plastered on the back with our motto 'Free the Heart'.

She looked me over and nodded, "Good luck."

What was that supposed to mean, I followed her numbly into the gym area to be tackled by a familiar brunette; the tips of her hair were as red as mine. Her glasses matched perfectly, framing her hazel-green eyes. "AXY!" She squawked at me loudly. "I didn't know you were such a FAG!"

"Red? What are you doing here?"

She held up the camera in her hand and my heart turned to ice. "Yearbook."

She climbed off me and I could hear the mystery chick laugh. Riku chuckled beside her, oh god. They aren't together are they? Well shit Yuffie bounded over to Red with Kitty in tow. "Here for the group pictures?"

Red nodded briskly and had everyone line up. The picture snapped when I had looked off a random direction, rubbing the back of my neck. She said everyone was doing something goofy in that picture and it was cute before taking a more professional one. Riku and I were on the ground, back to back, mystery chick sat in front of us, her back to our shoulders; legs crossed pretzel style. She looked so cute. The girls behind us did a cute pose and the picture was taken. I hadn't even been in for an hour and the picture was being taken. My luck is horrible.

Red skipped off with her camera after Yuffie approved a picture for the yearbook, refusing to tell us which one. She then remembered mystery chick, "Axel this is Roxie."

Her big blue eyes blinked up at me and she greeted me curtly. I nodded to her, unable to say anything now that I was standing in front of her.

This was NOT good.

-w^v^v^v^w-

I caught the falling girl in my arms easily. They no longer doubted my strength or skill and trusted me solely to lift the tiny anorexic looking figures in the air. Roxie was one of the most calm and normal looking of the girls. I asked Riku why she changed in the boys locker room and he yelled, rather loudly that she was a lesbian. There was a curse of a reply from the said female.

I had managed to talk to her on occasion. Very short, choppy phrases like: How are you? And, what did you think of the game last week?

Needless to say I didn't get very far in the three months I've been a cheerleader.

I think Riku was starting to pick up on my apparent taste in her, trying to get us to talk more often and partnering us up for stunts. He was co-captain apparently. I think it was his doing that our new routine for championships was rather skanky… and I was paired up with the little blonde.

I knew more than I should about her, I felt like a stalker. When she was bored, she cocked one hip to the side, her opposite hand resting on her hip and rolled her eyes with a sigh. When she was upset, she'd completely isolate herself, fiddling with the edge of her skirt. When she was in a good mood, she messed with the barrette; it held a few loose spikes out of her eyes. I'd only seen her mad once, but it was my favorite stance she took. She looked like a little cat trying to fluff up and make itself look scary, perching on the balls of her feet and fists tight at her sides drawn upward by the wrist, leaning slightly toward whatever was irritating her. Her expression was priceless, bottom lip drawn slightly to one side and puckered slightly, eyes narrowed before she shook her head sharply and drew around, releasing a small huff of air and crossing her arms over her chest, nose in the air and pouty.

I had to suppress a laugh; it was me she was mad at. It was hard to take something that damn cute seriously when it's saying it's going to castrate you. She was cute alright. Not the flashiest in the group, her shirt was cut higher than the others, completely covering her small breasts, but it clung to her sides perfectly, flaunting her faint hourglass and rounded hips. She had toned legs and by no means stick arms. She looked healthy. Big blue eyes framed in blonde lashes and kissable lips to match.

I had yet to see her blush. I could only imagine. I'd drawn it once. I had a feeling it wouldn't do the real thing justice. "Uhm.. Can you put me down?"

I sharply turned back to see the infamous Roxie and put her on her feet. I could hold her for hours; she couldn't weigh more than one hundred ten or so. She was short; the top of her head was just under my chin.

"Good job Axel," she said smoothly. "I should have that jump down by next week, same time tomorrow?"

I nodded, and watched as she picked up her backpack and left practice. She reached for the door and collapsed. Just. THUD. On the floor. Holy shit.

I panicked, sprinting over to her and sliding into the door with the speed when I dropped down. Riku was already there with Yuna and Kairi. I tried to shoo the quickly increasing hoard of skirted girl to try and give her air. Riku helped out, forming a barrier between them and us with his arms and calm goading.

I checked her pulse, she was HOT. Her skin was on FIRE and she was sweating horribly. I lifted her into my arms and took her to the nurses office just down the hall. The woman, Lucrecia, frowned when she saw her. I waited with the entire cheer team as she got looked over.

Lucrecia walked in to be assaulted by a billion questions before someone yelled sharply for them to shut the fuck up. Probably Kairi or Larxene, they could be royal bitches at times.

Lucrecia pulled Yuffie forward, "this _girl_," I wondered why she strained the word, "is probably just dehydrated and tired. She'll be fine after a few days of rest and fluids. Who are her parents?"

"Rox doesn't have parents, they died a long time ago, car crash; the brother is stationed in Iraq right now, Roxie's alone." She seemed to be watching her words carefully.

I blinked. She's an orphan? She has a brother? Damn. I feel out of the loop.

"Is there someplace she can stay?"

"I'll take her," I piped in. "She's my partner, if any one will feel guilt for this it's me. I take care of her. My roommate will love it."

"Axel Timberlake," Lucrecia said softly, "You're roommate is Red Taylor right?"

I nodded.

"Very well, take her away. Make sure she sees a doctor soon."

I nodded again and walked up to the unconscious blonde, slipping and arm under her and carrying her to my car. The entire team was on my tail, telling me take care of her, call if needed, and Riku said something weird. "You're in for a surprise, try not to faint."

Why would I? It's just Roxie. I put her in the back and tried to latch her down as best I could, just in case. I was an awesome driver though, shouldn't have any worries. And I didn't. I pulled her limp body out of the car, getting some weird looks from the neighbors. "He passed out during practice," I repeated for the eightieth time. Nosy bastards.

The noted I was wearing the uniform and shut up or left. I managed to get my door open and walked inside. Red hadn't come home yet, I sighed and put Roxie on my bed, going to the kitchen to find some Gatorade or Propell or something rehydrating for her. I found a blueberry pomegranate Propell in a cabinet and pulled it out, when I heard an earsplitting scream.

I bolted into the bedroom to see Roxie, breathing heavy, scared as shit panicking on my bed. She saw me and frowned. "Where am I!?

Her voice was deeper than normal, she's just tired. "You passed out in practice, nurse told me to take you home since your brother's out." Actually I volunteered… but who needs the details.

"A likely story!" she snapped back, then wavered, a snaking hand cradling her forehead.

"Hey, don't hurt yourself Roxie," I said gently, walking over to her and taking her loose hand's wrist. This could go well for me.

"Okay… I am sick," she muttered.

"I'll say, you look like you were hit by a train," I realized I still had a bottle in my hand and handed it to her. "Drink this."

She took it delicately from me and I twisted the cap off easily while she stared at it. Then she sighed, "My name isn't Roxie."

"Roxanne?" I guessed. "I thought it was a pet name."

"It is but it isn't," she explained as she took a drink of the liquid. "This is really good actually."

"Red's. She hates the taste of water. I don't know. Don't ask."

"Didn't plan on it, but Roxie is my alias."

"Alias? Witness protection program?"

"School protection program."

"What?"

She sighed and slipped off my bed, grabbing a shirt and a pair of loose black sweats. What is she playing at? She slipped into my shared bathroom with Red and the door shut.

I nearly died of shock when the door opened again. It was Roxie alright, but it wasn't. The cheerleading uniform hung loosely from their fingers, the barrette was gone, and sparkly bracelets had been replaced with an armband. The hair fell loosely into their face; my shirt was huge on them but cut low enough to expose a large portion below the neck line. Flat chested, masculine, and still cute as hell somehow, they said, "My real name is Roxas. Roxas Beddington."

"Roxas?" I repeated numbly.

"I'm a guy if you can't tell."

I stared, swallowing. "Why are you pretending to be a girl?"

He turned his head and moved his hair to the side slightly, "I'm gay." An earring glittered slightly in the light.

"And that means you can cross-dress and pass off as a chick?"

He sighed, walking over to me. Why am I still attracted to her?... him?

"Let's just say I had an accident at my last school, I moved here for a fresh start, Roxie became my alias so I wouldn't have a repeat. Only people on the cheer team know. Keep it on the low."

THAT is what Riku was talking about. I tried to swallow a lump in my throat without much success. "Accident?"

He rolled his eyes, irritated. "I got the shit beat out of me. I was hospitalized."

I drew back, I hadn't expected that.

"All because I refused some chick and her ex boyfriend had a big, huge fit that she left him for a _gay guy_ over him and the entire football team beat the shit out of me for it." He added an annoyed smile, lips pressing together.

"Wow," I muttered. "How did you get breasts though?"

"Padding," he said simply. "An A sized padded bra."

"Nice," I said smoothly. "So uh… do you need anything?" This has become more awkward than I could have liked to have been.

He took the bottle back from me and I suddenly realized he had a rainbow bracelet on his other wrist. He's gay alright, gay as a boy on a unicorn. He downed the entire bottle quickly, sitting down next to me. "Another one of these would be great."

I nodded and walked into the kitchen, hitting my forehead a few times. Why WHY was I still crushing on him? Why? He's a DUDE! He has a PENIS. No vagina involved, no squishy breasts, just a penis and a pair. What… the fuck man? I got the bottle and continued to beat myself over in the head.

I walked into my bedroom and froze, I realized just how tiny he was in my clothes. They practically swallowed him. I handed him the bottle, "I'll be right back. I think My roommate might have something that might fit you."

My roommate is one of the oddest girls I ever met; when she wasn't writing Fanfiction on her laptop, she was dancing around her room to the most random collection of music ever. She didn't wear anything exceptionally girly, and preferred the baggy comfort of guy's clothing any day. So as it goes, she had a few men's shirts and one pair of pants. She was about Roxas's size, so they should fit him okay, I grabbed one of her belts just in case. I tossed them at the foot of the bed and Roxas picked up the shirt and checked the tag, "Red likes guy clothes?"

"Yes, she argues they're more practical than women's. She likes pocket space and baggy shirts."

He nodded and slipped my shirt off, now that I wasn't expecting see breasts there was no reason for him to be exceptionally shy. He slipped on the black T-shirt with 'SLIPKNOT' plastered across the front and looked down at it, perfect fit.

"She got that from her ex actually."

He nodded, "Her ex had good taste in music."

"How I wish Red did too."

He chuckled and jumped off the bed, slipping out of the pants in a pair of tight boxer styled panties. Close enough, other than the fact they had a little flaming heart on the ass that said 'Wanna Ride?' in cursive lettering in red against the black fabric above it.

That's just fucked up.

He slipped on her pants and they were loose so he tied them old skull and crossbones belt Red wore with almost anything. He looked good I had to admit, the Capri's passed over his knees and he folded them at the hem like they were supposed to be. He actually looked like a guy now. I sighed and sat down on the bed, continuing to assault my conscious for being gay.

We played a video game called SLAYER until Red came home, as usual she bounded into my room and Roxas panicked. The last thing he needed was a yearbook staff knowing his secret. She lit up like a Christmas tree, "ROXIE!"

She bounded over to him and hugged him. "I heard you passed out! You okay?"

As hyperactive as usual. "I'm... uh... fine." He muttered.

"Don't worry, I already knew."

He choked for a moment, "HOW?"

She whispered something in his ear and he busted up laughing, "that's messed up!" He batted at her shoulder. "Seriously? How'd you know?"

"Call it intuition if you need a better explanation, I'll leave you two alone to get cozy, latre'!"

Latre'. The weirdest word she ever came up with. Lah-trey. Later- switch the E and R and add the apostrophe to make it pronounce as an A. Weird but mildly amusing to say. "What did she say?"

"She said that I had to be a guy for you to fall for me."

I'll kill that bitch, "I'm straight."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "That's why you've been staring at me for the last couple hours, even though I'm a guy now?"

I blinked. Why WAS I staring at him? I'm not GAY. He chuckled at my expression. "Shock."

"Sure it is," he said softly. "Anywhere, where can I crash?"

"Here's fine, I'll take the couch."

He shrugged, "Suit yourself." Cocky bastard.

-w^v^v^v^w-

It was the third day, still spring break, and I wondered how much longer he was going to stay. Red took a huge liking to him, he pointed out was wrong with the yaoi scenes she wrote in her fanfictions, so she loved him. In addition, he showed a mild liking for electronic and Linkin Park, so they got along fine.

It was going great until he got dizzy again. I had to catch him as his knees buckled and he nearly hit the floor again. I laid him back down on my bed and he groggily looked me over. "Why are you so nice to me? I lied to you for months."

"You did what you had to in order to protect yourself, now shut up and rest."

"But-"

"Shut up." I pressed a finger to his lips and to my shock he LICKED ME. I yelped slightly, freaked out not by the fact he licked me, but by the fact it felt AMAZING. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?

"Okay," he said weakly, grinning at my horrified, blushing expression.

This sent my brain into overdrive. What the hell man? I'm. NOT. gay. There was a knock on the door and I looked through the peep hole to see Riku. I opened the door for him and he scurried inside quickly, still in uniform from practice that day. He slammed the door shut and pressed his back against it, running a hand through his hair, releasing a breath of relief. "Thank god you're here."

"What's up man?"

"I've got a… problem."

"Which would be?"

He took a deep breath, almost like he was summoning the courage to tell me something, and losing. He shut his eyes and bit his lip for a moment, the back of his head hitting the door. "Sora kissed me man."

"Sora? Who's she?"

"She," he laughed. "Sora isn't a _she_ Axel."

I laughed at him. I'll admit that it was asinine but his expression was GREAT. "Attacked by a gay guy?"

"I was hoping Roxa- I mean Roxie could help me out."

"It's alright Riku, cat's out of the bag. I know she's a he."

He nodded briskly, "That makes this easier then."

"You might have to stick around though, Roxas passed out again."

"Again?" he said with worry. "Okay. I can wait."

I watched him sit down on my couch, rubbing his hands together nervously. "What was with your whole slamming my door and freaking out?"

"I ran like hell and he chased me, I wasn't sure if he saw me come in here."

As if on cue, there was another knock. Riku gave me a pleading look. I motioned for him to lie down on the couch and opened the door. Sure enough, a spiky haired brunette looked up at me with big blue eyes. "Have you seen Riku?" he asked nervously, slightly out of breath."

I felt kind of bad about lying to him but I did it anyway, "Nah, I haven't seen him, something wrong?"  
"No, nothing's wrong," he said nervously. "I really need to get going. Thank you Axel." He turned on his heel and bolted down the stair like there was no tomorrow.

I shut the door slowly and Riku sat up, freaked out as hell. "Thank you."

"What's the big problem? Tell him the truth."

"That's the problem," Riku muttered softly. "I think I like him back."

I nearly choked, thinking out loud softly, "Not you too."

"What?"

"I didn't say anything," I said quickly.

Red came waltzing into the room, headphones in her ears, swaying her hips to a tune I could hear but couldn't make out. Judging by her motions, I could tell it was R and B, and by narrowing it down to the two she's been listening to more lately: Cyclone or Dip it Low. Riku watched her curiously as she sashayed her way into the kitchen, still oblivious.

"Is she okay?"

"Red has a bad habit of zoning when she dances. I doubt she realizes I'm here much less you." She had a Propell when she came back out and I watched her dip her hips and do a circle with them slightly, Cyclone. I know this girl far too well for my own good. "It's interesting if nothing else."

She was oblivious the entire way back to her room, shutting the door and probably dancing far more freely as she does when she's walking. I turned on the T.V, sitting down next to the flustered and blushing Riku. "Relax," I advised him. "Watch some mind numbing T.V."

We decided on Jackass Two, then we watched Road Trip, Scary Movie IV, and Brüno, all mind numbing and stupid as fuck. We were practically hysterical from our brain cells dying when Roxas numbly staggered into the room. My brain immediately turned back on and I rushed over to him, "You okay?"

"My head hurts," he whispered.

I put my arm gingerly around his shoulders and led him to the couch. Riku moved aside and made room for him as he sat down, hand still on his head, laced into his golden hair.

"You okay Rox?" Riku asked softly.

He jumped slightly, "Oh.. hey Riku. I'll be fine."

I decided to cheer him up, "Riku got lip-locked."

"Shut up Axel," he hissed.

"By a guy."

"Oh really?" Roxas managed.

"And he _liiiiiiiiiiked _it."

Riku looked ready to jump over Roxas and kill me. He probably could clear him, pouncing directly on my shoulders and mauling me to death. Roxas chuckled, "Who's the lucky gentlemen?"

"Sora," I answered.

Roxas actually laughed, groaning for a second afterword. "So why is he here?"

"I came to ask you what to do," he replied.

Roxas frowned. "I don't know what you should do Riku, for starters are you even gay?"

"I'm not sure anymore," he replied nervously. You're not the only one….

His reply surprised me. "Then you're bi. Give him a shot. If you don't like it, then go back to girls. It's safe to experiment behind closed doors. Explore your options, I did and I found out guys were more my style, just don't frequently display it or you'll wind up in a skirt." Does that mean I should too? Fucking A.

"Uh…. Okay…" Riku replied softly, chuckling at the skirt comment. "I guess I should find Sora then shouldn't I?"

Roxas nodded weakly and Riku stood up, thanked me and left. Roxas groaned, leaning back against my arm and into my shoulder. Maybe I should give it a shot. I was more concerned with this headache he had though, he'd been alright up until now, slightly dizzy at times but he hadn't collapsed.

He simply laid against me for a while and then wiped his nose, he yelped softly when he saw a streak of blood on his finger. "That's it," I said sharply. "You're going to the hospital."

He groaned. I'd suggested it before but he refused to get in the car. Apparently after his parents' deaths he hated hospitals with a passion. I picked him up and took him to the car though; he numbly stared at his own blood. I found a tissue for him and he wiped his nose off carefully. The drive seemed to take forever and I got him checked in under me, I did have a job and I had insurance. I'm going on nineteen for Christ's sakes.

We waited together and we called into the back room, he was thoroughly checked out and then sent to another doctor. His brother was called and I briefly wondered what the hell was going on when they insisted he stay there.

I stayed with him; red came and visited when I called. The whole cheer team was in tow. Riku came with Sora, shocked as hell when he found out Roxie was actually Roxas. He didn't seem to take it as well as I did, gaping for nearly an hour and a half until Riku distracted him. Roxas didn't look good, his dizzy spells were getting worse and frequent nosebleeds. I couldn't believe my eyes when a large brunette with a scar across his nose dashed into the room with a military uniform in complete disarray.

His brother. I found out his name was Squall that day. No one would tell me what was going on, but Roxas kept undergoing tests… and then the results came back. Red, Riku, Yuffie, Sora, Squall and I were present for them. No one but Squall seemed to have a clue, as we were taken outside.

The doctor, a straight cut man with a lab coat tag that red 'Vexen Frost' had us all sit down in a small room with many chairs and a sofa. I had dibs on the sofa with Squall and Riku, who let Sora sit on his lap. The girls didn't sit, they all stood in a complete, uniform line. Even Red was alert and silent as Vexen began to speak.

"Squall… do you mind if they hear?"

"They'll bug the shit out of me if they don't. Spill it," he said sharply. "What's wrong with my brother?"

"I'm sorry to tell you, but," he paused, suddenly everyone knew it was bad, "he has a tumor about the size of a golf ball."

The room went dead silent, something in my chest clenched. HARD. I couldn't breathe. Eventually Yuffie spoke up, "Will he be okay? Can you treat it?"

"It's gotten pretty far, but if act immediately we may be able to stop it, or at least slow it down. But there are complications with its location…"

My mind went blank for a moment. Roxas had… cancer? "Where?" I thought aloud.

The doctor held up a CAT scan, faintly I could make out the picture of Roxas's skull. "It's in his _brain?_" I stressed.

He nodded curtly.

After that, I fazed out everything. Nothing they said mattered really. Roxas was… dying. Very slowly and soundlessly I rose to a stand and meandered back into the room with him. He'd woken up from the painkillers and gave me this wide-eyed wistful look. He just looked at me, big blue eyes pleading and I felt my eyes water up. "How bad?"

I shook my head and walked up to him, unable to speak.

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad?"

"Round a nine and a half Rox."

He looked broken, "Am I going to die?"

"I don't know," I felt something wet slide down my chin and fall off my chin. It wasn't alone.

"Don't cry Axel," he pleaded. "Please don't cry." His voice broke.

I sat up on the bed with him and cupped his cheek in my hand. "It'll be okay Roxas. No matter what, it'll be okay."

"Can you guarantee it?"

"As much as any one human can, yes I guarantee it." I tried to smile but I knew I was losing the battle.

He closed his eyes and leaned into my hand. He opened the glittering pools of blue a moment later. "I trust you Axel."

I leaned down and put my face into his opposite shoulder. "I'm sorry Roxas."

"It's not _your _fault," he said, trying to laugh and petting my hair with his free hand. "None of this is your fault."

I squeezed my eyes shut, maybe if I just… wake up. This couldn't be real. It had to be a bad dream. It had to be. It just _HAD _to. It's not _right. _He can't… he can't die… Not when I just made up my damn mind and was planning to ask him out when this all blew over, no…. it's a nightmare. Please god let me wake up.

But I didn't.

He went through surgery. Every tried not to get their hopes up… but it was hard. That little bird caged in our hearts beating it's white wings against our hearts, giving us this fleeting hope… but we all knew that something was going to go wrong. We knew.

It didn't work. It bought him time, but he was going…. to… die.

We didn't want to know how much time he had. It was written down on a piece of paper in a sealed envelope, left with in Squall's huge hands; strong hands. I found myself gawking at the symbolisms of it. He literally held his brother's life in his hands. He went to work, trying anything and everything to save him after the initial surgery failed. I remember the day he was told.

He was watching T.V. feeling better than before and eating a chocolate pudding. They asked him how he was and he replied, "I'm good."

They asked if he had a moment to talk, he drew back slightly and nodded slowly, "sure."

The television was turned off and they very delicately told him he was going to die. He, like all the others, didn't want to know his estimated time left with us. "Live _every_ day like your last, not _just_ the last," that's what we all said.

We hoped, we prayed, and we became increasingly angry with God. Squall had to open the letter to find out if he had to go back to Iraq… we all saw it as reassuring when he told he did… but he'd be back. He hated it. It was clear on his face, Roxas was his only family… and the damn military was taking him away from him. It sucked. It fucking sucked.

I hated the government at that moment. I hated God. I hated fate. I hated the world. Fuck everything.

Everything but Roxas and the few people I'd become so close to. Riku. Kairi. Yuffie. Squall. Sora. Red. Kitty. A guy named Duncan showed up on occasion to check on Red, he wished us luck and always tried to smile. The cheer squad gave him a Get Well Soon party after he was allowed to leave, two weeks before his second surgery.

He'd lost most of his hair, so we got him a wig. Similar to the hair length he used to have, he could style it the same... we tried to make everything as normal as possible.

I'll never regret one day in particular.

"Axel?"

I looked up at him, he seemed more concerned about me than himself, his false blonde hair spiked as it always had been and blue eye laced with sadness. "What is it?"

"You seem upset," he said softly, sitting down beside me.

He'd moved in with me and Red since his brother went back. We had no qualms about it. I slept on the couch without a second thought. "I'm fine," I told him.

"No you're not," he argued gently, trying to catch my eyes again.

"I'm _fine,_" I urged.

"No you're _not_," he retorted.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked.

"I want you to tell me the truth. What's wrong?"

I looked away; I didn't want to tell him the truth. I wanted to lie. Lie through my teeth so he wouldn't know how broken I felt.

"It's about the surgery isn't it?"

If only it was. "Sort of."

"Cancer?" he tried again. It always surprised me how easily he could say that word…

Bingo. "I just… wish there was something I could do."

"You are doing something," he replied with a gentle smile.

I smiled back at him, not fully understanding.

"You make me feel like I'm at home, you take care of me. You stay with me. You stay my friend through all this, and you smile. You make me laugh. That way I don't think about it as much. That's all I want, and that's all I really need."

I wanted to cry. Instead I cupped his cheek and did the most irrational thing in the world, I kissed him. Just like that. I was fucking gay as a guy dressed in hot pink lace and rainbow leather.

He responded to me, making it even worse.

Within a couple weeks, I realized I was madly, hopelessly in love with a boy with cancer. The cheer competition was coming up, the team wanted to back out because it was the same day of Roxas's surgery but the blonde practically threw them on the bus. We'd only be gone for a few days, he said. Then he turned to me and Red. "Get on the bus Axel."

"No," I replied sharply. "I'm not leaving you Roxas."

"You're not, get on the bus."

I sighed. "No."

"I want you to Axel, I don't want you to miss out because of me. I'm not alone, Red'll be here; so will Sora."

I glared at my roommate beside me. "Did you agree to this?"

"Hard to argue," she replied dryly.

I sighed and kissed his forehead. "You better be here when we get back. You hear?"

He nodded, putting a small kiss on my lips and I got on the damn bus to hell. Not because I wanted to. Not because the team needed me. Fuck that. I did it because he wanted me to. I just had the feeling he was trying to push me away because of something and I didn't know what. I just had that feeling. Riku seemed to have it too, so did Yuffie and Kitty.

It was very quiet bus ride.

But we won. We fucking won. We had more drive and spirit to win because we had someone waiting for us back home. We didn't just represent our school that day, we represented our friend on a hospital table. It's what he wanted us to do, so we rocked their worlds. There was no competition.

The ride home was buzzing with whispers and prayers. We couldn't wait to see our beloved blonde friend. We pulled up to the bus stop and I knew something was wrong. It was just Red.

"What happened, is Roxas okay?"

"He's fine Axel," she choked between fat rolling tears. "He's fine."

"What happened?"

"He nearly died at one point, but he's okay… Axel…"

She paused dramatically, and I almost choked her. "What?" I snapped.

"He's OKAY," large fat tears rolled down her freckle dusted cheeks.

I paused for a moment. "Okay as in, alive… or okay as in…."

"He's FINE," she wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me tightly. "We almost lost him Axel… I'll tell you later, you have to see him."

I didn't understand until I saw Roxas myself, bandages wrapped around his head, and an IV of painkillers and injected into his arm. He was playing a video game on the Nintendo DS. "Roxas?"

His head whipped around to me and the biggest smile I had ever seen spread across his face and I suddenly understood.

It worked.

The damn surgery worked.

I hadn't even changed out of my uniform, rushing over to him with a medal hidden under my shirt, the entire cheer team bounced in after me. I was the first one to slip a medal around his neck, he gasped and touched the gold material under his fingers and suddenly had everyone's… his hand never left mine. "We won Roxas," I knew I was crying again… I didn't care.

He flashed big, starry eyes at me. "We did… didn't we?" I kissed him again, savoring the moment.

I suddenly found myself surrounded by a bunch of bouncing girls in short skirts and flaunting shirts… and yet staring at a boy. "I love you Roxas."

"I love you too Axel."

"Damn straight."

He laughed.

Live everyday like it's your last… not just your last days. Because you never know… You might not get lucky.

Squall was injured in combat, coming back with a massive scar across his face and a strange limp in his walk. He was discharged from the military as a disabled veteran. Our cheer-team graduated and moved to college teams, but I purposely failed school again so I could stay with Roxas his senior year. _Now_ I was officially a **super** senior… but I didn't care. I had Roxas. His hair grew back, three times more beautiful as it was before. With me around, he left his alias behind, I'd always protect him. As long as I was around, he felt safe. I told him everything would be okay… and it was. He trusted me with all of his heart and soul.

I did guarantee it after all…. Didn't I? I guess some things… really are that simple…

*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*v*^*

This is my brain dumping a lot of mushy crap. For an agnostic I sure write about God a lot… *shrugs*

I don't usually believe in happy endings, but in the world of fan fiction… I'll let it slide… I just could bear killing Roxas off in this one… I wanted to let hope prevail… at least this once.

No yaoi in this fic, it was too innocent. It's actually SHORT! OMG! Only 7705 words! WOWZA!

Props.


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